UGLINESS

Many, many years ago I had sort of an epiphany after reading "Animal Katabu" by Jean Pierre Hallet, et al. Within the pages was a passage on ugliness. Hallet believed there was no such thing as an ugly animal. They had no say in there appearance and were what they were. Humans simply constructed the concept of 'ugliness' within themselves. I started applying this to works of art in all its forms. Some art doesn't suit me and I try to reflect on the 'why of it'. Sometimes I can and sometimes not so much. But, I never call the appearence of something 'ugly' instead it just doesn't suit me.

This all came back to me whilst reading Muccia Prada's comments regarding her Feminist collection. I can appreciate her creativeness, but it just doesn't suit me.

SKETCH42

(GO TO THE ABOVE LINK TO VIEW THE COLLECTION)

Blogger's Note: This blog, Sketch42, is by Nicole Cohen and worth a look see. Her newsletter is varied and entertaining.

Live Maine Lobster

Economics is a social science rather than a science-science. That's because it really studies human behavior and thus hypotheses and theories are unpredictable. I don't care how many formulae are in academic papers, economists are not scientists. For example, one of the basic tenets of economics is the law of supply and demand. Kinda touted around like the law of gravity. Yet, there is that old bugaboo of human behavior that screws up the law.

Take the lowly lobster for example. We learn from James Surowiecki in the August, 2013 New Yorker, that the wholesale price of lobster has dropped from $6.00/lb. to $2.20/lb since 2005. Still the price at restaurants has not decreased. Many experts attribute [I like that phrase] the abundance of lobsters to global warming, others probably blame President Obama. Nonetheless this oversupply is reeking havoc among the Maine lobstermen. This is not the first time lobsters have been aplenty. Back in the day (Colonial New England), Mr. Surowiecki tells us that, "servants, as a condition of their employment, insisted on not being fed lobster more than three times a week."

So what is breaking the law of supply and demand in restaurants? Surowiecki believes that lobster is not a commodity but a luxury item and thus price is associated with enjoyment. Past studies have shown that low prices of previously expensive luxury items creates suspicion among retail consumers. Restaurants are not a commodity business per se. Sure it is a tough competitive venture but quality perceived or real is the factor for success, and price is associated with quality.

"Commodity producer, by contrast, can make lots of money if the conditions are right, but their fate ultimately depends on the broader economy. Restaurants are trying to insulate themselves from the market; lobstermen are at the mercy of it."

I thought that if I ever had a band I would call it LIVE! MAINE LOBSTER!

Howdy God

God Must Be A Cowboy

"Cowboy churches are local Christian churches within the cowboy culture that are distinctively Western heritage in character. A typical cowboy church may meet in a rural setting in a barn, metal building, arena, sale barn, or old western building, have its own rodeo arena, and a country gospel band. Baptisms are generally done in a stock tank. The sermons are usually short and simple, in order to better to be understood by the parishioners. Some cowboy churches have covered arenas where rodeo events such as bull riding, team roping, ranch sorting, team penning and equestrian events are held on weeknights. Many cowboy churches have existed throughout the western states for the past forty or fifty years, however just in the past fifteen or so years has there been an explosion of growth within the “movement”. Prior to 1980 there were no less than 5 cowboy churches in Texas, now the number exceeds 200, and there are an estimated 750 nationwide. There has been no definitive group that established the movement; rather it seems to have had a spontaneous beginning in diverse areas of the country at nearly the same time. Some of these cowboy churches are an outgrowth of ministries to professional rodeo or team roping events, while the roots of many can be traced back to ministry events associated with ranch rodeos, ranch horse competitions, chuck wagon cooking competitions, cowboy poetry gatherings and other “cowboy culture” events." From Wikipedia

If you want to know more about Cowboy Churches go to their network here.

Patent Trolls

Last week I wrote about a domestic terrorist group [my judgement] that uses lax lien laws to harrass public officials. Today I want to inform you of another domestic threat composed of individuals known as patent trolls.

"Patent trolls are companies that buy software patents -- bits of coding found in every corner of the Web, really -- and then sue the businesses and entrepreneurs who have derived income, however indirectly, from their use. Silicon Valley is riddled with these suits, and it was there that the term was coined; there are trolls under every bridge, demanding their unearned share of the tech boom profits." [Read more here.]

These individuals not only troll the internet but also small and large businesses looking for opportunites to sue. Guess who pays this increase in the 'cost of doing business'?

Lien On Me and The Taking of Things

Lien On Me

"Sovereign Citizens" are a domestic terrorists group. Somewhat unorganized but very violent and disruptive of our judicial system. They game the Constitution and/or ignore it, which ever suits their purpose. Currently they are filing bogus liens against public officials. Apparently under the Uniform Commercial Code the authenticity of the lien is of no import. Behind this tactic is a scheme to destroy the victim's credit rating and to force them to spend sometimes thousands of dollars in legal fees to get the lien removed. If you have never heard of "Sovereign Citizens" check out their activities here and here. 


The Taking of Things

It appears that in some areas of the country, what's mine is actually the local D.A.'s and sheriff's. Here in Tenaha,Texas, for example, you cannot only forfeit your DVD player but also your kids. This is because of something called civil forfeiture. It has a noble history. Forfeiture of property from wrongdoers is a instrument of law enforcement. Bust a drug lord and take his stuff, use it or sell it and enhance your budget to continue the good fight. In Tenaha however it's not drug lords or even minor wrongdoers. It's citizens being stopped and their property taken for personal use by a local D.A. Lynda K. Russell and her cohorts. Your can read more about the abuse of civil forfeiture here.

[I was wondering why the Sovereign Citizens don't use their lien strategy on Lynda? But why do that when Lynda is destroying the rule of law without their help.]

The "Worried Well"

Yesterday whilst reading the NYT, a survey popped up, soliciting my opinion on the Times including brain exercises in their paper. I did not care for it nor was I willing to pay to use brain exercises. I may have stated previously that I enjoy my dementia. Every day is a new day and I never see repeat TV programs.

Anyway, coincidentally, this week's New Yorker, has an article by Patricia Marx, who did a survey of the brain exercise business. What with baby boomers worried about losing their minds the brain exercise industry is becoming a profitable enterprise. Ms. Marx took many tests and visited many brain exercise gurus, which I will not go into. But, suffice to say they were varied in quality and veracity and of course $$$$. [I was born before those people and believe me it was much nicer. More parking spaces, shorter lines, etc.]

Apparently there is fear out there among the boomers: "Am I, like so many of my gang, just one of the 'worried well'? (A 2011 survey found that baby boomers were more afraid of losing their memory than of death.) Should I get out a crossword? Learn to play bridge? Chew gum? Take a nap? Drink more coffee? Eat blueberries? Give up tofu?"

Back to the money part of this cerebral prevention enfeeblement business. Marx reports that Sharp Brains 2012 survey showed that more than a billion consumer dollars was spent on consultants and brain exercises. Sharp Brains also projects that by 2020, consumers will spend in excess of six billion dollars.

So let me just conclude with this, "To everyone who has solved today's crossword puzzle: Sorry, but that is no guarantee that you will end up less nutty than the rest of us."

Disruptive Technologies

I have been reading several articles regarding 'disruptive' technologies in various industries. Here are a few:

Newspapers: Free online content is not only impacting print editions but also online editions that have paywalls. There is also some difficulty in attracting advertisers to mobile devices. Consumers apparently don't pay attention to the ads on these devices.

Telecommunications: Verizon has refused to repair their legacy lines post-Hurricane Sandy. Cell phones are taking the place of these old technologies of copper wires and telephone poles.

Oil Refiners/Environmentalist: The 15% blend of ethanol (E-15) is cutting into retail gasoline refining. And environmentalist think too much acreage is being diverted for ethanol production. There is also a debate that E-15 may damage internal combustion engines.

Utilities: The electricity generation industry is panicking over the increasing use of solar power and federal subsidies that encourages solar power enterprises. They are also concerned about 'net metering.'
Industry spokesmen are becoming hysterical. They see an existential threat to the national grid.

Television: I am morphing into more content viewing via my Apple TV. Here's why, less and shorter commercials. You still need the cable provider, that's true, but 'disruptive' technologies like Aero are already here.

There will be much lobbying to thwart the progress of these 'disruptive' technologies. So stay tuned and watch which state and federal politicians advocate for the industries mentioned, especially the utilities and refiners. Newspapers have accepted the 'disruption' and are working on innovative ways to compete both on and off-line. Telecommunications is also less combative and offering their customers viable and economical alternatives.

It seems that the utilities in particular are strongly opposed to government subsidies to solar enterprises. But, we should note that Congress has for years protected the utility industry with both subsidies and tax advantages. State governors also have a tendency to appoint commissioners friendly towards utilities to state regulatory boards.

Some of these industries are already playing the "too big to fail deck". We, as a nation can't abide this internal war on innovation. There will be blood i.e. realignment of job skills, education needs some serious revamping and the old industries either will be pushed aside or adapt with more capital re-directed to R&D and less to dividends and executive bonuses.

As an aside, people wonder why large financial institutions are fined and do not have to admit guilt for insider trading and/or other criminal acts. People wonder why prosecutors only go after the 'little guy". Well, they are gun-shy after busting Enron. In that case there was serious collateral damage. Arthur Andersen, one of the 'big five' accounting firms, was indicted for its part in the scandal. The indictment was subsequently reversed, yet 30,000 employees lost their jobs. Not only did innocent Enron employees lose jobs and retirement investments but so did Arthur Andersen employees and who knows how many other innocents lost their jobs and retirement nest eggs? So this is one of card's that will be played in the industries 'too big to fail deck'. A recent exception is an indictment against the hedge fund SAC.

I have been using quotation marks (') around the word 'disruptive' because I think it an unfortunate choice to described innovation technology. I wonder if there are technologies sitting on corporate shelves somewhere that could have been developed years ago but were considered too 'disruptive' for the corporation's future?

'The times they are a-changin'.

Sources:

Newspapers: Newspaper Monopoly That Lost Its Grip

Telecommunications: After Hurricane Sandy, Verizon Takes Hostages

Oil Refining: Corn Ethanol Use In Gasoline Under Review

Utilities: On Rooftops, a Rival for Utilities

Television: Spreading Disruption, Shaking Up Cable TV

Financial Services: Corporate Crime and 'Collateral' Damage